


I've Got Your Back

by Ria_JellyFish



Series: Stories from Sinnoh [2]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Diamond & Pearl & Platinum | Pokemon Diamond Pearl Platinum Versions
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Implied Twinleafshipping, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Selectively Mute Dawn, Sign Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-30
Updated: 2017-11-30
Packaged: 2019-02-08 20:47:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12872685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ria_JellyFish/pseuds/Ria_JellyFish
Summary: Relying on people isn't always easy.





	I've Got Your Back

When Barry’s mother asked if he was excited to start his journey, he could only shrug.

“I dunno, it’s gonna be weird not having Dawn around.”

“What do you mean, honey? Isn’t she going with you?”

“There’s no way her mom will let her.”

His mother refused to take that as an answer.

They had snuck away in the middle of the night. Barry’s mother sent them off with maps, camping gear, and enough cash to keep them going for a month.

“If you two need anything, just call me and I’ll be over in a flash,” she had said as she led them to Route 201.

Dawn tried to smile as they headed off, but she couldn’t shake the dread pooling in her stomach.

If Joanna found out...

She tried not to think about it as she hugged Chimchar closer to her chest.

“Dawn? Did you hear me?”

Reality finally came back to her as she heard Barry’s voice and she shook her head. He let out a long sigh.

“I said that I was thinking we could go to Jubilife and then work our way East towards Oreburgh,” Barry said as they waded through the tall grass, “what do you think?”

After a short nod, Dawn let Chimchar clamber onto her shoulder. [You just wanna go to Oreburgh first because it’s full of Rock-Types,] she signed.

“Well, yeah, makes getting my first badge way easier if Piplup can sweep them.”

Piplup cheeped happily.

“Besides, we’ll head to Eterna afterwards so you and Chimchar can have an easier time.”

Dawn smiled, but said nothing as she looked back to her feet.

The silence that hung between them dragged, growing more painful by the second. Snow crunched beneath their feet and Starly cawed in the trees, but it wasn’t enough to fill the space. Barry eventually huffed and turned to face her, “I can hear you thinking from here.”

[Sorry.] Her hands moved slowly, her mind a thousand miles away. [It’s dumb.]

“Are you thinking about your mom?”

There was a pause, long enough that Barry grew concerned that she hadn’t heard him.

[I shouldn’t be worrying,] she signed, [but I can’t stop thinking about what will happen if she catches up with us.]

Barry stopped so abruptly that Dawn kept walking. She only stopped when he spoke up.

“Take my hand,” he said, holding it out. She did as he asked. The contact was comforting, his skin warm despite the cool night air. Their eyes met.

“I promise you,” Barry started, squeezing her hand tight enough to hurt, “I’ll always have your back. No matter what.”

Dawn blinked once, twice, then engulfed him in a hug.

 

* * *

 

 

When she started her journey, the most Dawn thought she would have to deal with was Barry’s snoring and maybe one or two soggy nights in a busted tent.

What she did not expect, however, was having to save the universe from total annihilation because some guy couldn’t just talk his problems out.

And Barry said _she_ was overdramatic.

The swirling dark clouds over Mount Coronet only grew more intense as she climbed. The few grunts that tried to stop her could barely be considered obstacles, but it did little to ease her nerves.

A harsh tremor shuddered through the cliff side. There wasn’t much time left.

Dawn had never actually been to the top of Mount Coronet. She had been close, but had never finished the last few metres of the climb up to the Spear Pillar.

It wasn’t like she had much of a choice now.

Pounding footsteps raced up behind her. By the time she turned, Barry was already crashing into her side, sending them sprawling onto the ground. They lay there for a few moments before Barry shot back up to his feet.

“Crap!” he yelped, yanking Dawn back up into a standing position by her arm. “This is no time to be sitting around!”

Before she could respond, Barry was already running, dragging her along behind him.

“This was not how I wanted to spend today!” he said, breath rising from his mouth in small clouds as they waded through the snow, “I wanted just wanted to sit at home, maybe try that poffin recipe Lucas sent us, but nope, some megalomaniac decided that he wanted to blow everything up.”

“You’re gonna have to fine him,” Dawn deadpanned.

Barry stopped dead in his tracks, still staring straight ahead. Dawn was worried she had broken him before he whirled on his heel and grabbed her by her shoulders, shaking vigorously.

“Are you seriously making that joke _now_?! I haven’t even said that in years!”

“Barry.” Dawn, despite not growing much since the start of their journey, held so much of a presence in that moment that he was taken aback. “Listen to me, if you go up there fuming, you’re not gonna be able to think straight.” She frowned. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

His hands dropped to his sides, unable to meet her eyes for a long moment.

“This isn’t like a Gym Battle where we can just try again later,” he said, “if we fuck this up-”

“We’re not going to.” Determination flared in Dawn’s eyes. “Because we’ll be together.”

A grin formed across Barry’s features. “They’ll never know what hit ‘em.”

The two saw a light at the end of the tunnel. Beyond lay the Spear Pillar. The air was charged with an energy so alien that it made them nauseous.

Barry’s stance faltered slightly, almost unnoticeable. But Dawn had known him for years.

“I’ll always have your back.” She squeezed his hand. “No matter what.”

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: maybe one day i'll go into detail about Dawn's childhood but for now we'll just leave it vague.
> 
> hopefully i can get some motivation to write longer fics but as long as christmas parties are still a thing at work i'm just gonna stick to oneshots.
> 
> proof read with my own two eyes. :p
> 
> \- Ria -


End file.
